Yesterday, January 24, five human rights advocates — including a Chicago Chaplain,a farmworker, students, a Steelworker and a 79-year-old retiree — were sentenced to three months in federal prison and fines of up to $500 for their acts of nonviolent civil disobedience calling for the closure of the US Army’s School of the Americas (SOA/ WHINSEC). Another defendant was sentenced to one year of probation with a $1,000 fine. Eight of their co-defendants including another Chicago man will continue their trials Tuesday.

“It’s a sad day when peace protestors go to prison,” said Liz Deligio, 28, a chaplain and student from Chicago, Illinois sentenced to three months in prison, “and the perpetrators of human rights violations will never see the inside of a courthouse — let alone a jail.”

The defendants were among more than 16,000 who gathered at the gates of Ft. Benning on November 20-21, 2004 to call for the closure of the controversial school, now renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC). Fifteen people crossed onto Fort Benning and were arrested in acts of civil disobedience, many negotiating a 10-foot-high barbed-wire fence to enter the base. They took this action despite knowing they likely faced three to six months in federal prison.

Photos by Linda Panetta
The fourteen are on trial before Judge G. Mallon Faircloth, known for handing down stiff sentences to opponents of the SOA/ WHINSEC. Since protests against the institution began more than a decade ago, more than 170 people have served a total of over 75 years in prison for engaging in nonviolent resistance in a broad-based campaign to close the school.

The SOA/ WHINSEC is a military training school located at Fort Benning, Georgia where over 60,000 Latin American security personnel have been trained in courses including counterinsurgency, psychological warfare and interrogation techniques. Graduates of the school have been consistently linked to human rights violations and to the suppression of popular movements in Central and South America.

“The spirit of hope and the courage of the defendants rose above the punitive verdicts handed down in court today,” stated Deligio.

This morning, trials continue. Court commenced at 9 am, with Alice Gerard’s trial continuing from yesterday. Supporters have packed the tiny courtroom, and a number of them were turned away due to lack of space. The SOA Watch website, www.SOAW.org, is being regularly updated. Continue to check throughout the day for the latest in the judicial proceedings.

Clikc here to read more about the SOA 14 and how you can support them.

- - - - - - The 14 SOA/ WHINSEC Defendants - - - - - -

Adjudicated
Liz Deligio, 28, Chicago, IL – 3 months in prison; $500 fine
Meagan Doty, 22, St. Louis, MO, student in Dayton, OH – 3 months in prison, $500 fine
Tom MacLean, 79, Ashfield, MA – 3 months in federal medical facility
Elizabeth Nadeau, 27, Minneapolis, MN – 3 months in prison; $500 fine
Mike Ring, 65, Wall, NJ – 1 year of probation; $1,000 fine
Dan Schwankl, 31, Siler City, NC – 3 months in prison; $500 fine

Awaiting Trial
Robert “Nashua” Chantal, 52, Americus, GA
Brian DeRouen, 27, Fairfield, CA, student in Dayton, OH
Ron Durham, 24, Chicago, IL
Alice Gerard, 48, Buffalo, NY
Sr. Lelia “Lil” Mattingly, 63, Maryknoll, NY
Aaron Shuman, 32, Oakland, CA
· And two minors